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Technical

Ron Simmonds

Open Harmony: Part 2

A given melody tone can be
voiced as a member of any chord. The use of such harmonies is better
left to the ingenuity of the arranger himself. Example
1, gives some examples of voicing using ‘C’ as the melody tone.
The position of the ‘C’ has been noted in brackets above each chord.

The next examples
show expanding and contracting harmonic sequences. The chords in Example
2 are derived from the descending bass. In Example
3 a triad in fourths descends towards an uprising duo in fifths.
The penultimate chord is a result of this convergence. The qualities
of sound and resonance of the saxophones in this register make both
examples exceedingly dramatic: far more so than when played on other
instruments.

By now the
difficulties of attempting to document any sort of harmonic pattern
should be clear to the reader. The number of possible two-note chords
alone contained within one octave is 133. Spreading them over a range
of up to seven octaves adds to the permutation considerably. The number
of possible eight- note chords runs into several thousands.

To sum up:
when you are harmonising a melody, or when searching for an alternative
harmony for a given melody tone, any tone can become any member of any
chord. Resonance is obtained by approximating the overtone series. Colour
is changed by careful doubling of chordal members; tension is altered
by the addition or subtraction of dissonant intervals. Sudden change
from massive chordal blocks to unison or two or three-tone harmony refreshes.
An octave jump brings a corresponding uplift; drama is achieved by a
skip in the other direction.

There are
no hard and fast rules for writing open harmony. The beauty is there
for everyone to find in his own way.